"the finest tend to be sourced from dairy cows"

So today we went for our mandatory physical exam at the local health department which is a requirement for renewing our visa. (as in 'permission to live here', not 'plastic money'.)

They take photos, take blood, take x-rays, take ECGs, test for color-blindness, etc, etc. I guess it would be silly to let someone live here if they were color-blind? Anyways, the whole gamut of testing goes on and on. One of them is ultrasound. Yes.... goop, wand, abdomen, ultrasound.

In the ultrasound the technician informed me that I have a 7mm gallstone.

Upon arriving home, I had to google my newfound medical condition.

Here's what wikipedia says.....


Gallstones are a valuable by-product of meat processing, fetching up to US$10–per–gram in their use as a purported antipyretic and antidote in the folk remedies of some cultures, in particular, in China. The finest gallstones tend to be sourced from old dairy cows, which are called (yellow thing of oxen) in Chinese. Those obtained from dogs, called Gou-Bao (treasure of dogs) in Chinese, are also used today. Much as in the manner of diamond mines, slaughterhouses carefully scrutinize offal department workers for gallstone theft.[19]


Valuable.

We went to our friend's house for the day. Having a meal together turned into spending 8 hours together. :) He invited his friends and relatives to come over too.
Our kids got served all kinds of interesting foods. It was noisy and wild, but at least they kept giving our kids candy.



This little friend was only a few weeks older than Emily, so they really enjoyed playing together. Emily is coming right along with this language!



Eliana says there's no need to learn to walk. This is the life.







The very picture of adoration! :)

Zac's B-day Party

Zac turned 2 today!! He wasn't quite sure what to make of all the attention. About a dozen friends came over, and brought him everything from puzzles to diapers. :)




Sporting our family's traditional birthday hat, and feeling a little uncertain about all the people staring at him, we couldn't get a smile.



We tried to demonstrate how to blow out candles, but the more he thought about it, the less he wanted to try it. So we helped out. The 3 year old sister and the one year old sisters were curious onlookers. Their turn next month!



A big piece of cake and 4 cups of milk later, he's quite happy. Isn't he adorable?

Zac's first haircut

Before:



After:



He didn't cry at all. And Scott did a great job! Isn't he the cutest little guy??!

Spinners, and squinters, and handsome guys

Emily, a.k.a. the queen of spin, doing a twirly dance for us.



It's so rare that the sun really shines this bright. We enjoyed it for several hours before lunchtime. After lunch.... thunderstorms that were so wild they disturbed naptime for 25% of the nappers! (Okay, so that's just one kid.... who came out for cuddles while our language tutor was here.) :)



As we were walking around, a couple of older ladies stopped to point out how cute Emily and Aubrey are... but when they examined Zac, they declared him the cutest of the whole lot. :) We've been pleasantly surprised by the locals' reactions to the Ethiopians.

For the love of dogs and babies

We went to our neighbors house to visit, and let our 4 kids play with their 2 boys. These neighbors have been soooo sweet to us through our couple years here! They recently moved to this new place.... and boy is it pretty! On the 23rd floor... great view... stinks when the power (regularly) goes out though. :) They said at their Christmas eve party their friends had to hoof it up the 23 flights of stairs! (Power outage on Christmas eve... hit us too... we thought it was cool... candlelight Christmas eve... but quite cold!)



Isn't Scott looking younger and skinnier all the time??? I don't know how he does it. He has started eating some vegetables though. He even ate some broccoli a few days ago.... stir fried with tomato and garlic.... and... wait for it.... said it tasted "GOOD"!




Eliana really liked the dog. When he sat, she would sit beside him. When he laid on the floor, she would lay on the floor too. She would pat him with her hand, he would pat her with his paw. It was really cute. Maybe he's fond of coconut oil? We use it on her hair. :)




The dog grew so fond of Eliana's companionship that when I went to pick Eliana up and move her, the sweet golden retriever growled at me quite seriously! He seems to be under the impression that she is his baby now.

In Hawaii to complete citizenship process, and eat Taco Bell

In order to get Eliana and Zac their US citizenship, we had to get them on US soil within 6 months of when they were issued an immigrant visa. Hawaii is the fastest state at processing the papers. So they now have their certificates of citizenship and also their US passports! And I got to eat some Taco Bell! :)



Aubrey enjoying sun, sand and solitude. :)



Enjoying the Honolulu aquarium. Each "bubble" of this bubble coral is an individual living creature! Our Maker is amazing!

It's as beautiful as everyone says!
"You can't open your eyes in this universe without seeing a theater of divine revelation." ~R.C. Sproul



The Nafzigers came to Hawaii too while we were there! They were Scott's youth group leaders when he was in junior high. They've been wonderful friends ever since. Sandy (Sanford... below) married us! They got to meet our 3 kids who had never been to America. :)

Our 2 weeks in Hawaii

People keep telling us it's like we're running a toddler daycare. :) Word to the wise - don't take your whole toddler daycare on 30+ hour travels! 11 hour flight, then 5 hour layover, then 3 hour flight, then 1 hour bus ride. Add in customs, immigration, security, luggage, and potty training, and it is enough to make the whole gang have a meltdown. And the next day we kept on traveling to get back to our city. Then a flight was cancelled, then it took yet another day. We are so happy to be home!



Dustin, Jamie and Katie Hobbs came to visit us in Hawaii too! They were such a great encouragement to us, and it was wonderfully refreshing to be with them! We lived with them a few years ago when we were homeless (in our transition phase of moving overseas). Our kids had a lot of fun with their sweet Katie (2 years old). They also babysat for us and brought us lots of cool things from California... including a video our friends made for us of themselves. Very fun! Thanks friends!!




Dance party on the side patio. "If you're happy and you know it...."








It was such a blessing to hang out with my Grandma and my Great Aunt Jeannie in Hawaii. They watched the kids while we went out to eat, they helped feed and bathe the little people. They played outside with them in the grass too! Grass is a novelty for our kids.




You can never have too many rocks, sticks and leaves for your rock, stick, and leaf collection.

More Hawaii pics from last week

Enjoying time with Grandma Donna in Hawaii. You can see Great Grandma Buss and Great Aunt Jeannie in the mirror!! :)

Scott and Aubrey at Pearl Harbor